Tag: Portland

2024-25 Portland Trail Blazers: A quick preview

After trading Damian Lillard, Portland committed to a youth movement, but their roster construction still doesn’t make complete sense. Despite adding promising young players like Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and Donovan Clingan, the Blazers …

After trading Damian Lillard, Portland committed to a youth movement, but their roster construction still doesn’t make complete sense. Despite adding promising young players like Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and Donovan Clingan, the Blazers continue to carry significant salary commitments, which could hinder their flexibility to fully embrace a rebuild. Their recent acquisition of Deni Avdija shows they are still looking to improve the roster, but the mixed approach leaves some uncertainty.

Ultimately, Portland’s future will likely hinge on whether they can fully commit to building around their young core. Moving on from higher-paid veterans and embracing the development of Henderson, Sharpe, and Clingan would allow them to align their roster with their long-term goals.

Husker soccer falls to Portland off penalty kick

The Nebraska soccer team concluded its West Coast trip Sunday afternoon with a clash against Portland.

The Nebraska soccer team concluded its West Coast trip Sunday afternoon with a clash against Portland. Despite outshooting the Pilots twice over, the Huskers failed to put one in. Portland took advantage of this, resulting in Nebraska’s 1-0 defeat.

The Pilots got on the board with over six minutes left in the match after being awarded a penalty kick. The penalty kick was only one of six shots Portland delivered on the afternoon, with four being on goal.

The Huskers meanwhile finished with 14 shots in the loss but only five on goal. Sarah Weber and Ella Guyott led Nebraska in shooting, pitching in three shots, with two on goal.

But with no shots breaking the line, the Huskers stayed in a heavy defensive bout with the Pilots. Cece Villa finished with three saves on the afternoon up until the penalty kick.

Nebraska now falls to 3-3 on the season and will remain on the road. The Huskers head east to face conference rival Iowa on Thursday night. The match is set for 7:00 p.m. CT on B1G+.

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions.

Tire life gave Power the edge in Portland showdown

The ongoing volley between Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing at Portland International Raceway went in favor of Penske drivers for the third time in the last five years at the circuit, breaking the tie between the NTT IndyCar Series’ two dominant …

The ongoing volley between Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing at Portland International Raceway went in favor of Penske drivers for the third time in the last five years at the circuit, breaking the tie between the NTT IndyCar Series’ two dominant organizations.

In 2019 it was Penske’s Will Power, and upon the race’s 2021 return from a COVID-affected 2020, it was Ganassi’s Alex Palou who stood atop the podium. In 2022, it was Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, and in 2023, it was Palou again for Ganassi. And with Power’s romp to a demonstrative win on Sunday at the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland, the deciding factor in his 9.8-second victory over Palou was tire longevity.

Whether it was new or used Firestone primaries or alternates, Power’s No. 12 Chevy had better traction in all phases of the lap – accelerating, braking, and turning – for the entirety of his four stints. Palou wasn’t as fortunate as his tires, new or used, and of either compound, lacked the chassis setup to match Power’s pace as the stints continued.

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The knockout punch came on the final pit stop, when Power’s race strategist Ron Ruzewski saved a fresh set of the faster alternates while Palou, who’d used his on the third stint to no avail, spent the race’s final stanza on slower used primaries. Power drove off into the horizon and left his main championship rival to settle for a distant second.

“I think we didn’t really pick the right choices on tires,” Palou said. “But it comes from qualifying. We didn’t really think that the used alternates were going to last. Used both of them in qualifying. Yeah, a shame that we couldn’t really battle much. At the beginning I thought we had a lot of pace when the 12 [was] on primaries. I was really comfortable.

“But as soon as Will went on [alternates], I just couldn’t really follow him. I had a chance on the back straight when he had a little bit of traffic, but couldn’t really make it. So yeah, happy, but obviously a little bit frustrating that we couldn’t really get there. It was tough. Like, our pace was not at his level today. I think he had a seventh gear today. Couldn’t really catch him.”

Power had Palou draw near on a couple occasions when they were about to lap tailenders, but other than those moments, the Penske veteran was able to reestablish a safe margin over the Ganassi ace.

“I had traffic; I was at the mercy of the pace of the car in front,” Power said. “I saw that gap just shrink really quickly. I think he pulled into the pits or I passed. However that played out. As soon as I got clear track, I knew I could put quite a bit of time into him. Especially at the end of the stint, it seemed like his car used the tire more than ours.

“On [alternates] we were simply better. Our car was really good on [alternate] tires. Yeah, kind of equal, I’d say, [on primaries]. He even looked like he dropped off on [primaries]. It was really a lot to do with traffic management. If it was a clear track for me, I always felt I could pull a gap on him.”

Armstrong hitting his stride as IndyCar’s summer draws to a close

Marcus Armstrong is riding a hot streak at the right time of the season. The New Zealander has four top 10 finishes in the last five races and a pair of top fives, including Sunday at Portland in the No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, and has found …

Marcus Armstrong is riding a hot streak at the right time of the season.

The New Zealander has four top 10 finishes in the last five races and a pair of top fives, including Sunday at Portland in the No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, and has found the only thing he was missing—the consistency—needed to turn his natural speed and talent into results.

“IndyCar is extremely competitive, if you didn’t already know, and any circuit, to be inside the top five, you need to have a lot of things go right,” Armstrong told RACER. “You need to have the pace. You need to have some element of luck and just everything to go right. To be deep inside the top 10 for a couple of races, it just shows that we’re moving forward and making progress.”

Armstrong and new race engineer Angela Ashmore have clicked in their first year together, which has made life easier for the Kiwi as he completes his first complete season in the series.

“I feel like I jell with the car on road courses and street courses, really,” he said. “Oval racing, I still need to understand a few things, clearly, but when it comes to circuits like this, I feel very, very at one with the car, and I’m also building a lot of chemistry with my race engineer, Angela Ashmore, who’s doing a great job as well. I just want to thank her, because she’s doing an amazing job.”

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Ovals are the last key area for Armstrong to make strides, and based on his drive to eighth at World Wide Technology Raceway, the potential is there.

“I did feel confident at [WWTR],” he added. “In fact, when the oval races have quite a lot of action, side by side racing, trying to find clean air, it’s actually not too dissimilar to racing on a street course, or … even racing around Zandvoort, for example. In a high downforce car, it’s not totally dissimilar on a short oval. I felt like I made a lot of progress at [WWTR], even though I’d never been there before, so it’s cool.”

Armstrong’s rise in consistent competitiveness can only help in his quest to secure his future in IndyCar. With his Chip Ganassi Racing team expected to drop from five cars to three next season, the 24-year-old isn’t guaranteed to continue in the No. 11 Honda. Showing his strength in the twilight of the current season can only help when it’s time to return next year, wherever that might be.

“Mike [Hull, CGR managing director] and Chip [Ganassi] are the ones that call the shots, and I’m my own manager, so I want to be in the loop,” he said. “I just want to maximize my performance on track and trust that the situation will resolve itself.”

Power trounces Palou in Portland to keep title fight burning

The 14th race of the NTT IndyCar Series Season is over and an angry Will Power turned his frustration from last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway into a flag-to-flag display of dominance at the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland. Furious at …

The 14th race of the NTT IndyCar Series Season is over and an angry Will Power turned his frustration from last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway into a flag-to-flag display of dominance at the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland.

Furious at the circumstances that led to the crash and loss of a fourth-place finish or better at WWTR, the Team Penske driver channeled that disappointment as he so often does and rebounded with total mastery of the 110-lap contest in Oregon, beating championship leader Alex Palou with relative ease while leading more than 100 laps along the way.

“He’s a good teammate,” Power said of AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci, who started from pole in a car that receives technical support from Penske and didn’t put up a big fight when Power took the lead later in the first lap.
“Very fair. I have to thank him for helping out there. We definitely had a better car on [Firestone’s alternate tires over Palou]. A good day.”

Palou kept Power in sight, and even came close to making a pass when they hit traffic, but the driver of the No. 12 Chevy kept Palou anywhere from 1-3s behind on most laps, to over 10s in the closing laps of the contest. Other than the brief moments where he pitted and others inherited the lead until they stopped, Power was in command the entire time.

With his win, Power vaulted from fourth in the Drivers’ standings to second. Palou arrived at Portland with 59 points over Colton Herta in the championship; with the victory, Power demoted Herta and sits 54 points back from the driver of the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

“I thought the primary and the alternates were going to be closer, and they were not,” said Palou, who leaves with a full race of maximum points ahead of the field. “Hopefully we can pick up a little more points in Milwaukee. I like where we’re sitting. I like the opportunity in front of us.”

Penske’s Josef Newgarden continued his late-season surge with a run to third, one position ahead of Herta. Ganassi’s Marcus Armstrong sealed his third straight top 10 finish with a strong performance to take fifth, and the often-unlucky Marcus Ericsson had a clean day on the way to sixth.

“From where we started, I’m pleased with the progress we made,” Newgarden said.

The biggest mover was Penske’s Scott McLaughlin who fired from 20th to seventh, and after running in the top three early in the day, polesitter Santino Ferrucci from AJ Foyt Racing held on to claim eighth.

It wasn’t terribly exciting to watch, but Portland delivered everything Power and Penske needed to keep themselves in the title fight. The championship battle reconvenes next weekend in a doubleheader on the Milwaukee Mile.

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Ferrucci led the field to the green flag and lost the lead to second-place Power and championship leader Palou slotted in behind in third. The opening lap was clean through the Turn 1 chicane, thanks to the green being thrown early, but the lap ended under caution as title contender Scott Dixon was hit by Pietro Fittipaldi entering the back straight and shot across the track into the barrier, which folded his left-front suspension. Dixon, third in the championship entering Portland, was done for the day, 28th and last.

Five drivers starting at the back of the field used the caution to pit for fuel and move to an alternate strategy.

The lap five restart saw Power lead Ferrucci and Palou. Fittipaldi was ordered to pit lane for a drive-through. Lap eight and Palou took second from Ferrucci, 0.8s behind Power. McLaughlin was up from 20th to 15th.

Lap 10 and Romain Grosjean ran fourth, Herta in fifth. Lap 18 and Christian Luandgaard dropped down to P12 after locking up at the chicane and Linus Lundqvist fell to P25 after overshooting the final corner and needing to return via the drag strip. Power held 1.3s over Palou and 3.8s over Ferrucci.

At lap 21, Kyle Kirkwood pitted from P6, the first of the leaders to stop. Three laps later Fittipaldi tried to pass Conor Daly into Turn 1, locked up on the inside, and speared Daly into a spin. Both continued.

The next lap, Power’s lead was down to 0.6s over Palou while Ferrucci was down by 4.6s.

Lap 26 and a slow Fittipaldi in front of Power nearly allowed Palou to get by; he pitted at the end of the lap to serve a penalty for the Daly hit. Lap 30 saw Power’s lead over Palou stretch up to 1.0s. Ferrucci was 3.4s back as the first pit stop loomed. Grosjean was 4.7s behind; Herta, 5.3s down; Josef Newgarden in sixth was 6.5s arrears; Marcus Armstrong was 7.8s back in seventh. Lap 32 and Ferrucci pitted. McLaughlin following him in.

Power pitted at the start of lap 33 as did Grosjean, Herta and Armstrong. Palou followed on Lap 34 and it wasn’t overly fast; Power returned to the lead with Palou in second. Herta was forced off of Turn 2 by Grosjean and rode through the dirt as Ferrucci made the pass and took P6 from the No. 26, right behind Grosjean. No action taken by race control on Grosjean.

In two more laps, Power was 1.6s clear of Palou. By lap 44, not much changed, barring Power taking greater command of the race with 2.5s over Palou and 7.5s over Kirkwood.

Lap 50 and the gap extended to 3.5s between Power and Palou. Kirkwood got to within 4.5s of Power, and in fourth Newgarden was 8.1s back. Lap 51 and Kirkwood ducked in for his second stop. Lap 52 and Palou cut the lead to 2.1s. Lap 56 and Christian Rasmussen went off at the last turn and used the drag strip to resume his race. A blocky Kirkwood got the call from race control to give up two positions.

One lap later, Palou pitted first; Newgarden joined him as Power and Ferrucci stayed out. The two finally pitted at the end of the lap. Power’s lead was about 2.0s before Palou stopped. Returning after his stop, Power increased it to 3.1s.

Lap 62 and Herta pitted from the lead. Grosjean spun at Turn 1, got going again, but pulled in front of Rasmussen at the apex, was hit and got his left-rear tire flattened. Rasmussen, who wasn’t at fault, has his race ruined and pitted to replace his broken front wings.

 

Power was back in the lead and had 1.6s over Palou. Newgarden was 7.0s behind in third, then it was Herta at 12.7s down, and Ferrucci in fifth with 16.8s to Power.

Lap 67 and Palou ran 0.6s back and was charging as they got into traffic. Grosjean received a drive-through. Free of traffic, Power was stretching the lead again, at 1.4s after 71 laps.

Ten laps later, Ferrucci made his final stop. Power ran 2.0s clear of Palou and 2.5 from Newgarden. Lap 86 and Herta stalled leaving his pit box, but resumed quickly after re-firing the car on his own.

Lap 87 and Power and Newgarden pit as Palou stayed out. One lap later, Palou was in. He returned in second, setting up a straight lap time battle to the finish.

By lap 89, Power had lead 79 laps. Lap 91 and he was up by 3.4s on Palou and 9.1s on Newgarden. Unless something drastic happened, it was his race.

Power stretched the lead to 4.9s over Palou and 18.5 to Newgarden. Turn out the lights, the party was over.

RESULTS

Abel clings to Indy NXT title hopes with Portland victory

Jacob Abel knew the task and completed it perfectly. Abel kept alive his faint hopes for the Indy NXT by Firestone championship by passing points leader Louis Foster on the first lap and winning the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday at Portland …

Jacob Abel knew the task and completed it perfectly.

Abel kept alive his faint hopes for the Indy NXT by Firestone championship by passing points leader Louis Foster on the first lap and winning the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday at Portland International Raceway. Abel drove his No. 51 Abel Construction entry of Abel Motorsports to victory by 0.4103s over Foster’s No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car of Andretti Global.

“We didn’t roll off the trailer that well at all,” Abel said. “We were really struggling there the first practice session, especially going against someone like Louis, who won here last year and rolled off and just made his stuff better and better. Huge shoutout to the Abel Motorsports crew.”

Abel’s third victory of the season and in his career – his first since early May on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course – pulled him to within 79 points of Foster with two races remaining. Foster only needs to lead by 54 points after the next race, the Indy NXT by Firestone Milwaukee 100 on Saturday, Aug. 31 at the Milwaukee Mile, to clinch his first title in the IndyCar development series. Foster and Abel are the only drivers still eligible for the championship, which includes a financial package to run selected NTT IndyCar Series races.

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“We’re really just trying to go out and win some races,” Abel said. “We lost a little bit of ground there in the middle of the season, so just trying to go out and have some fun and enjoy my last few races in Indy NXT and hopefully make the jump to IndyCar next year.”

Rookie Bryce Aron of Andretti Global completed the podium finishers today on the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course in the No. 27 Jaguar Land Rover Chesterfield machine after starting sixth. That finish tied his career best set in June at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Rookie Caio Collet finished fourth in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car, followed by fellow rookie and teammate Christian Brooks in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports machine. Brooks tied a career best with his fifth place.

Abel wasted no time pouncing on an opportunity to pass Foster and keep the championship race alive. Abel, who started second, dove inside pole sitter Foster in the precarious, right-hand Turn 1 on the first lap and led all 35 laps.

But Foster didn’t make it easy on Abel. Foster stayed within a 0.5s of Abel’s gearbox for the entire race, often closing to within a car length.

Foster, who leads the series with six wins this season, pulled close enough to challenge on lap 12 but was rebuffed by Abel in a near-calamity for both drivers.

British driver Foster pulled inside of Abel entering the left-hand Turn 10, with Foster’s right front tire making light contact with Abel’s left-rear tire. Foster backed off, and both drivers continued, with Foster applying pressure on leader Abel for the rest of the race.

RESULTS

Palou’s championship strategy? No letup

NTT IndyCar Series championship leader Alex Palou has a prime opportunity to place more distance between himself and those who are still within reach of the Spaniard with four races left on the calendar. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver, who starts …

NTT IndyCar Series championship leader Alex Palou has a prime opportunity to place more distance between himself and those who are still within reach of the Spaniard with four races left on the calendar.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver, who starts third for today’s 110-lap BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland, has 59 points over his closest championship challenger Colton Herta who starts eighth, 65 points on third-place teammate Scott Dixon who starts ninth, and an advantage of 66 points over fourth-place Will Power, who starts second. But 59 points might not be enough to keep his fiercest rivals at bay.

Heading into three ovals to close the season, Palou has one last chance to use his immense road racing skills to his benefit; Team Penske’s Power — Scott McLaughlin, who sits fifth in the standings with a 73-point deficit and starts 20th — and Josef Newgarden are expected to carve into Palou’s lead once the closing ovals arrive.

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“You don’t want to go out already thinking that you just want to be finishing top fives, and points racing, because that’s when issues come,” Palou told RACER of his strategy for Portland, the Milwaukee doubleheader, and the championship finale at Nashville. “When you start changing the way you drive, the way you race, it’s not natural. And also that goes for strategies. If you start going for, ‘Let’s do a safe strategy and maybe lose only two spots and be P6,’ then you’re back there in the race and you start going farther back.”

Intelligent aggression is the formula Palou plans to use in the No. 10 Honda.

“I still want to race 100 percent and go for wins,” he said. “I think also having a little bit bigger margin allows us to be like, ‘Hey, we can go for it and try and win it,’ but at the same time, I won’t be going crazy into Turn 1 and crashing. I think we’re in a good mindset of going as hard as we can without going crazy.”

Garcia clinches USF2000 title in style at Portland as Argyros wins

An intense climax to the USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire season began Saturday morning at Portland International Raceway with Pabst Racing’s Max Garcia taking a hard-fought victory. It was enough to wrap up the championship in style. Later in …

An intense climax to the USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire season began Saturday morning at Portland International Raceway with Pabst Racing’s Max Garcia taking a hard-fought victory. It was enough to wrap up the championship in style. Later in the day, a thrilling first half of the final race witnessed USF2000 competition at its finest with a sensational six-car scrap for the lead. Sadly, a chaotic series of incidents blighted the second half of the race and concluded with rookie G3 Argyros, from Newport Beach, Calif., surviving to claim an unlikely maiden victory after having lined up 14th on the starting grid.

Elliott Cox (Sarah Fisher Hartman Driver Development), from Indianapolis, Ind., led both of the day’s races, although both he and two-time polesitter Thomas Schrage (VRD Racing), from Bethel, Ohio, had to be content with one visit to the podium.

Schrage earned his first Continental Tire Pole Award of the day by virtue of posting the fastest of every driver’s second-fastest laps during the lone qualifying session on Friday. It was Schrage’s second pole of the season after also starting up front for one of his home-track races at Mid-Ohio last month.

Cox started alongside, but immediately took over the lead and continued to hold the advantage for the majority of the 25-lap race.

Garcia, who started fourth, also worked his way past Schrage in the early stages as the top three edged clear of Sam Corry, from Cornelius, N.C., in a second Pabst Racing Tatuus.

Garcia, from Coconut Grove, Fla., was virtually assured of the championship crown, but he was intent upon finishing his impressive campaign with a flourish. He achieved exactly that by finding a way past Cox at the Turn 1-2 chicane with just three laps remaining to claim his fifth win of the season and secure the championship crown in the best possible manner.

The unfortunate Cox, who had hoped to celebrate his 17th birthday Friday with an overdue maiden victory, had to settle for a nonetheless impressive second ahead of Schrage and VRD teammate Max Taylor, from Hoboken, N.J., who had risen from eighth on the grid.

Even so, the Tilton Hard Charger Award was claimed by Evagoras Papasavvas (Jay Howard Driver Development), from Loveland, Ohio, who finished strongly in fifth after lining up only 12th on the grid.

Schrage, who has contested only a partial campaign, once again underlined his promise by setting the fastest lap of the race which was enough to secure another pole position for the season finale Saturday afternoon.

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Another fine start by Cox saw him vault from fifth on the grid to second on the opening lap, and two laps later he also overtook Schrage on the back straightaway to lead for the second successive race.

Cox held onto a slender advantage with a snarling pack of cars behind him until lap 12, when a lunge around the outside of the first corner by Garcia ended with both cars off the track and a full-course caution.

Taylor assumed the lead for the restart, but that lasted only a few hundred yards until he overshot his braking point at Turn 1 and made heavy contact with Papasavvas, who had taken a wide entry to the corner and was trying to make a move around the outside. Chaos ensued as the majority of the field was involved and several drivers were forced to take to the escape road, earning themselves drive-through penalties.

When the dust had settled, Argyros, who had been running ninth before the incident, suddenly found himself in the lead. Garcia, meanwhile, having been sent to the back of the field after being assessed responsibility for the earlier incident with Cox, took advantage of the melee and then made a series of incisive passes to work his way back into the fight for the win.

Argyros firmly rebuffed Garcia’s attempt to wrest back the lead at the chicane as they entered the final lap, then gained a reprieve when the caution flags waved again following another incident further back in the pack.

So Argyros’ maiden victory was assured and Garcia had to settle for second ahead of last year’s USF Juniors champion Nicolas Giaffone (DEForce Racing), from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Schrage.

Argyros also earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award, while his team owner, Jay Howard, and Augie Pabst of Pabst Racing shared the day’s two PFC Awards.

An exciting season will be celebrated at Sunday night’s Championship Celebration, where Pabst will accept his sixth Team Championship and Garcia will be presented with a scholarship valued at $458,400 to ensure graduation onto the next step of the USF Pro Championships Presented by Continental Tire ladder in 2025.

RACE TWO RESULTS

RACE THREE RESULTS

Johnson wins again for VRD in USF Pro 2000 at Portland

Nikita Johnson was out to prove a point this weekend, and he did so emphatically. The 16-year-old from Gulfport, Fla., knew he had virtually no chance of wresting away the USF Pro 2000 Presented by Continental Tire championship from his main rival, …

Nikita Johnson was out to prove a point this weekend, and he did so emphatically. The 16-year-old from Gulfport, Fla., knew he had virtually no chance of wresting away the USF Pro 2000 Presented by Continental Tire championship from his main rival, Lochie Hughes, but after holding off a race-long challenge Friday from last year’s USF2000 champion Simon Sikes in damp, drying conditions, Saturday Johnson ensured another visit to the top step of the podium for himself and VRD Racing in the dry by fending off the attentions of Turn 3 Motorsport’s Hughes to claim his series-leading eighth victory of the season.

Hughes had to be content with second, secure in the knowledge the title was already under wraps, while Sikes, from Augusta, Ga., enjoyed another fine podium finish after fighting his way past Pabst Racing teammate Jace Denmark, from Brownsburg, Ind., during an all-green 30-lap season finale.

Johnson and Hughes shared the front row of the grid for the third race in succession, with Johnson having earned his sixth Continental Tire Pole Award by virtue of recording the fastest of every driver’s second-best laps during the solitary qualifying session yesterday.

The top two quickly put some distance between the pursuing Pabst pair, Denmark ahead of Sikes. But rather than simply settling for second, Hughes was especially keen to finish his magnificent year with a flourish – and another victory. But Johnson was not to be denied. Having incurred a 30-point penalty due to a technical infraction earlier in the season, which put a severe dent in his title aspirations, Johnson had no intentions of relinquishing his hard-earned on-track advantage.

Only very briefly during this afternoon’s 30-lap race were the top two separated by more than a second. Hughes redoubled his efforts in the closing stages, but there was not the hint of a chink in Johnson’s armor, and even a last-lap lunge from Hughes under braking for Turn 1 failed to rattle the leader.

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The scrap for third was equally intense. Denmark led the way for the majority of the race until Sikes finally made a move stick at Turn 1 with just five laps remaining.

Jay Howard Driver Development’s Frankie Mossman, from Newport Beach, Calif., found a way past Dutchman Glenn van Berlo (Pabst Racing) at the start, but after another spirited tussle it was van Berlo who came out ahead to secure fifth.

Next up in seventh was DEForce Racing’s Jorge Garciarce, from Guadalajara, Mexico, who completed his rookie USF 2000 season strongly by rising from 14th on the grid to claim his fourth Tilton Hard Charger Award.

“A great way to end off the year with two victories and two poles – just an amazing VRD race car,” Johnson said. “You know, this red machine, our car’s just been amazing all year. I just can’t thank the VRD boys enough for everything they’ve done. They’ve been a huge part of my career. So, hats off to them, my family for always coming out and helping out; my dad for helping me with racing ever since I was a little kid. My mom helping me too, always taking me to tracks. And my little brother for always supporting me at every track. And even when I’m away, he watches. I can’t thank my sponsors enough because I wouldn’t be here without them. And everybody that has just been here from the start. It’s just another amazing year done with the USF Pro Championships.”

Dan Mitchell took his eighth PFC Award of the year as the winning car owner.

It was Johnson who claimed the honors this weekend on the race track, but Hughes has put together an exemplary rookie season and will take the plaudits tomorrow evening during the traditional Championship Celebration when he will be presented with the champion’s trophy and a scholarship prize valued at $681,500 to ensure graduation next year to Indy NXT.

RESULTS

Foster continues Indy NXT domination with Portland pole

The beat goes on for Louis Foster – quickly, as usual. Foster continued his march toward the Indy NXT by Firestone championship Saturday by winning the pole for the Grand Prix of Portland with a top time of 1m2.1396s in the No. 26 Copart/Novara …

The beat goes on for Louis Foster – quickly, as usual.

Foster continued his march toward the Indy NXT by Firestone championship Saturday by winning the pole for the Grand Prix of Portland with a top time of 1m2.1396s in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car fielded by Andretti Global. Foster broke the track record he set by winning the pole last year with the quickest trip around the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course in three sessions this weekend – all led by Foster.

“Turn 1 is just absolutely bananas here,” Foster said. “My goal this weekend, honestly, was just to get through Turn 1 safely. And the best way to do that is to sit on pole. Happy to have done that.”

Coverage of the 35-lap race starts at 1:15 p.m. ET Sunday on Peacock and the IndyCar Radio Network. Championship leader Foster has won six of the last eight races this season in the INDYCAR development series.

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This was the fifth pole of the season for Foster. It’s also the ninth of his two-season career in Indy NXT, tying him for sixth on the all-time list. The last driver to win as many poles in a season as Foster was current Chip Ganassi Racing NTT IndyCar Series driver Linus Lundqvist, who took six top spots en route to the Indy NXT title in 2022.

Foster, from England, leads the standings by 91 points over Jacob Abel and needs to expand that gap to 108 points after the race Sunday to clinch the title. There are only three races remaining this season.

Brazilian rookie Caio Collet was runner-up to Foster for the third straight session this weekend, qualifying second at 1m02.2922s in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car. But Collet will start eighth in the race due to a six starting-spot penalty for blocking and avoidable contact in an incident with Jamie Chadwick in the race last Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Abel qualified third at 1m02.4418s in the No. 51 Abel Construction car fielded by Abel Motorsports, followed by James Roe at 1m02.7614s in the No. 29 Topcon machine of Andretti Global.

Reece Gold qualified fifth at 1m02.6777s in the No. 10 HMD Motorsports. Yuven Sundaramoorthy will join him in the third row after qualifying sixth at 1m02.8024s in the No. 22 S Team Motorsports/Abel Motorsports machine.

RESULTS